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Summary

Also known as Ryder's Rings, the site comprises two contiguous prehistoric enclosures or pounds containing a number of hut circles and courts or pens. The two pounds together occupy over 6 acres and enclose 36 hut circles and a number of courts built against the inner face of the pound walls. The south-west enclosure pre-dates the north-east one. The site also saw activity in the medieval period and it is suggested that a contrast can be made between thin-walled pens which are likely to have been prehistoric and thick-walled pens which were constructed in the medieval period during the course of which sections of the prehistoric walls were damaged or destroyed. The name Rider's Rings may in fact be a corrupion of Writer's Rings; wreytors or writers were men from off the moor who paid grazing rights to use the pens for their stock, and for which a written record was kept.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002502: Riders Rings (The Rings)

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SE125
• National Monuments Record: SX66SE2
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441743
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442134
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SE/73
• Old SAM County Ref: 374

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LITHIC WORKING SITE (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• POUND (Extended, Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'The Rings' and 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map as two adjoining enclosures with numerous hut circles and courts or pens

Beckerlegge, J. J., 1933, Second Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 65 (Article in Serial). SDV178244.

The finest example of an early bronze age pound to be found on Dartmoor.

Worth, R. H., 1935, 12th Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 115-119 / figs.1-9, plans. (Article in Serial). SDV259660.

Riders rings, two contiguous prehistoric enclosures or pounds containing a number of hut circles and courts. (Further details on related records). The two pounds together occupy over 6 acres and enclose 36 hut circles and a number of courts built against the inner face of the pound walls.
The south-west enclosure pre-dates the north-east one. The walls of the enclosures are of drystone construction, with blocks of red or pink felsite on each face, and a core of small stones.
A detailed survey was made of the northern wall of the north-east pound, and some excavation took place within the pound in 1930.

Worth, R. H., 1943, The Prehistoric Pounds of Dartmoor, 288-290, 291-293, fig.11, 12 (Article in Serial). SDV320337.

Substantially the same as Worth 1935.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2279-2280 (10/12/1946) (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX66SE2, plan included (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV178241.

(04/05/1950) The largest and most important pound in the Avon Valley known as Rider's Rings is situated on the eastern slope of Zeal Plains. It is best regarded as being two contiguous pounds, of which it would appear that the south-west member was constructed first, While the north-east member was added as a later extension. The two pounds together cover an area of six acres and enclose some three dozen hut circles. Two hut circles were excavated one yielding charcoal and cooking stones while the other yielded charcoal, cooking stones , flint chips, fragments of Dartmoor type pottery and a broken whetstone. Marked features of the pound are the small courts built against the inner face of the walls. The general conclusions are that the pound and its associated huts are of clearly Bronze Age date, and that the 'courts' were enclosed spaces, probably for cattle or possibly used as gardens for crops, but not habitations.
The enclosure walls are composed of large stones, turf-covered in parts with average width 4.0 metres and height 1.2 metres outside and 5.0 metres inside (due to land slope). At SX67796421 is a well-defined entrance 3.0 metres wide. The other entrance, at SX67926437 has been closed up by fallen stones.
(18/07/1977) On the eastern slope of Zeal Plains is a settlement known as 'The Rings' or 'Riders Rings', consisting of two contiguous enclosures containing 23 huts and 24 yards. It covers a area of approximately 2.8 hectares, with maximum dimensions of 348 metres by 100 metres. The southern enclosure is primary and contains 15 huts.
The northern enclosure contains 8 huts and most of the yards, all except one, of which are adjacent to the enclosure wall. The huts are generally in poor condition, some of them no more than terraces enclosed by a discontinuous ring of stones; as far as can be determined all are Type I huts. The average internal diameter of the huts is 5.3 metres; the largest is 7.0 metres and the smallest 2.5 metres.
The enclosure wall is very spread but its original thickness average is approximately 2.4 metres; in places it is still 1.0 metre high, with a build-up of soil on the uphill side. The construction seems to have been an inner and outer face with a rubble core. Clearance inside the enclosure was probably not needed as the ground here is reasonably clear of stones.
Surveyed on PFD at 1:10 000.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor, 115-116,149,156,162,150,157/figs.24,40, 41,42/photos, plans. (Monograph). SDV231148.

The south enclosure occupies about 3.24 acres and the northern one 3.73 acres; each section contains at least 17 huts, and both have courts (see related records) built against the walls. No huts are visible outside the pounds.

St. Joseph, J. K. S., 1967, Unknown title, 60-61 fig (Article in Serial). SDV219152.

Ruined walls of granite blocks form a double enclosure, an elongated (northern) compound being attached to (and later than), a squarish (southern) compound. A number of pens are defined within the main boundary wall, and several isolated hut circles. No traces of field systems in the vicinity. Seven isolated hut circles can be distinguished in the southern enclosure, and eight in the northern one.

Fox, A., 1973, South West England 3,500BC - AD600 (Revised Edition), 100-101 /plan (Monograph). SDV16216.

The largest and most important pound in the Avon Valley is known as Riders Rings and is situated on the eastern slope of Zeal Plains. It is best regarded as being two contiguous pounds, of which it would appear that the south west member was constructed first, while the north east member was added as a later extension. The two pounds together cover an area of over six acres and enclose some three dozen hut-circles. At 'X' fig 2 a good section of the wall, 6 feet 8 inches wide, can be seen.
The present height on the higher side, against the hill is 2 feet 6 inches and on the lower side, the pound face, it is 3 feet 6 inches. Two hut-circles, 1 and 2, Fig 2, were excavated.
Hut 1 yielded charcoal and cooking stones, and Hut 2 yielded charcoal, cooking stones, flint chips, fragments of Dartmoor type pottery, and a broken whetstone in red grit. Marked features of the pound are the small courts built against the inner face of the wall. The general conclusions are that the pound and its associated huts are clearly of Bronze Age date, as the many other huts which have now been excavated; and that the "courts" were enclosed spaces, probably for cattle, possibly used as gardens for crops, but not habitations.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX66SE125 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV178397.

(10/12/1977) A collection of 200 to 300 flint flake cores and scrapers in Torquay Museum are labelled "Ryder's Rings". Pot boilers of granite and beach pebbles, a half dozen in all, are evidently correctly labelled. Several bags labelled Great Broad Field, Little Broad Field, Brimhill, Great New Park, Higher Snowden's Well and White's Monkey Oak Field seem not to be near Ryder's Rings. Classified as late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age.
(For location of most sites, saving, particularly, White's Monkey Oak Field, see SX 75 NW 13,14,15 and 76 SW 22) (citing Mr B Cooper, Curator, S Devon Nat Hist Museum Torquay).

Robinson, 1978, Rider's Rings (Worksheet). SDV176574.

Site visited in May 1978. Some of the hut circles against the pound are difficult to distinguish from small courts. Fourteen hut circles recognised in the southern enclosure, and ten in the northern, partly overgrown with bracken and bilberry. Entrances recognised on some. Not all hut platforms are very clear, and not all those marked on plan in Fox could be recognised. Full descriptions and measurements of individual hut circles on worksheet.

Pearce, S. M., 1981, The Archaeology of South West Britain, 94, 95/ fig. 3:2 (Monograph). SDV81689.

Two distinct compounds with at least 12 hut circles distributed between them.

National Monuments Record, 1982, NMR SF2112, 1245-1246, 1250-1252 (19/4/1982) (Aerial Photograph). SDV345548.

Robinson, R., 1984, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1984 (Un-published). SDV343082.

Visited 19/03/1984.

Griffith, F., 1988, Devon's Past. An Aerial View, 36 (Monograph). SDV64198.

The complex prehistoric enclosure known as Riders Rings is situated on the brow of the western side of the steep valley of the River Avon. It is a large and striking settlement. The southern enclosure covering some 1.32 hectares and containing at least fifteen round houses, appears to be the primary one to which the northern enclosure was subsequently added. Around the inside edge of the northern enclosure, and in some places in the southern one, a series of small enclosed 'courts' can be seen; it has been suggested that these are garden plots or animal pounds. If the latter, they would reinforce the interpretation of this settlement as that of a pastoral community, which its position certainly suggests. Riders Rings is one of the most handsome and well-constructed of the prehistoric Dartmoor 'pounds'. In some places the stone facing on the outer and inner walls can still be seen.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 144-5, Map 57, Figure 57.14 (Monograph). SDV337765.

'Rider's Rings' is a double enclosure. The narrower northern portion seems to be a later addition to the rectangular enclosure, doubling its size to 2.6 hectares. A series of animal pens entered from the north side then took the place of the dividing wall leaving a small gap for communication. There is ample evidence of re-orgnisation during its occupation. The two enclosures seem to have served different functions, the southern enclosure being reserved mainly for the sixteen huts '1' to '16'. The southern enclosure contains five pens or courts 'X' to 'Z'. A considerable part of the northern enclosure is sub-divided into pens or courts 'A' to 'U' which are almost continuous along the western wall and the ten or eleven huts '17' to '26' are mainly relegated to the centre. Five of the pens 'Q' to 'U' are located along the north side of the dividing wall between the two enclosures with three pens 'X' to 'W' on the south side of the dividing wall.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

'Settlement' shown on modern mapping

Fleming, A., 2013, Writers in Residence. The Secondary Occupation of Ryder's Rings (Article in Serial). SDV357767.

Article re-evaluating Ryder's Rings. It is argued that the site saw a major epidisode of medieval occupation during which thick-walled pens, previously throught to be prehistoric, were built and during the course of which the wall of the prehistoric enclosure was damaged or destroyed in places. Two hut circles (18 and O) are also likely to have been reused. These thick-walled medieval pens, which are mostly in groups of two or three, can be compared with surviving thin-walled pens which are probably prehistoric. These thin-walled pens may once have been more widespread and damaged or destroyed by the builders of the later pens. The name Ryder's Rings is thought to be a corruption of Writer's Rings. Hansford Worth noted the use of the phrase 'foreigners and wreytors' in a document of 1702. These were men from off the moor whose business it was to ensure that their animals grazing in the commons or Forest were written in the 'agistment roll'. The pens, therefore, were for writers who had paid their grazing fees.

Fleming, A., 2014, Writer's Rings? (Article in Serial). SDV357232.

Fleming focusses on the reuse of this site during the medieval period and theorises that there is a difference in the structures set within the enclosures. There are both thin-walled and thick-walled structures present; Fleming believes the former are the remains of Bronze Age hut circles, while the latter are medieval animal pens made by reusing stone from the earlier structures. The 'entrance' gaps are also thought to date to this later period; to allow better access for livestock. The name 'Rings' is thought to refer to animal pens, rather than the hut circles. Fleming suggests the name 'Ryder' may originate from 'wreytor', meaning 'writer' or 'foreigners' who lived off the moor, but penned their animals here.

Historic England, 2020, National Heritage List for England, 1002502 (National Heritage List for England). SDV363414.

This monument includes an agglomerated enclosed stone hut circle settlement called Rider’s Rings overlooking the valley of the River Avon. The monument survives as a roughly rectangular enclosure to the south west measuring 130 metres long by 105 metres wide internally, with a slightly curving enclosure abutted to the north east measuring 220 metres long by 70 metres wide defined by double faced banks measuring up to 6 metres wide and 1.5 metres high. Within the southern enclosure there are at least 16 stone hut circles. Of these, nine are attached to the enclosure wall and seven are free standing. One has a conjoined annexe, another is subdivided by an internal wall and in one instance a freestanding hut is connected to an attached hut by a short length of walling. There are also seven courtyards, of varying shape, five are attached to the enclosure wall and two are freestanding. The northern enclosure is of a different character. There are up to 18 courts or pens attached to the enclosure wall with one free standing in the interior. In this enclosure there are up to 9 stone hut circles and of these only one is connected to the enclosure wall the others are spread throughout the interior. During the medieval period a rectangular tinner’s shelter measuring 5.5 metres long by 2.3 metres wide was constructed in the northern enclosure amongst the already existing court walls attached to the northern enclosure wall. There was a partial excavation of two hut circles by Worth in 1930 which produced charcoal, cooking stones, flint flakes, pottery fragments, a whetstone and revealed one stone slab acting as a firescreen.

Unknown, Unknown, Rider's Rings (Photograph). SDV178242.

Slide of plan.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7739 - CORE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV7740 - FLAKE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV8475 - Excavation at Riders Rings

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